A baseball game will often present plenty of twists and turns, revealing along the way dramatic subplots, as its narrative arc eventually reaches a crescendo. Ultimately, a winner and loser both emerge, and folks like myself archive the events with written praise and criticism as we parse the game’s path and endpoint.

And, sometimes, well, sometimes two guys combine to bang a pair of 422 ft. homers to supply the offense and a handsomely paid starting pitcher goes out and shoves. For awhile on Friday night, it looked like that would be the deal.

The Easy Part

Andrew McCutchen got the the Phillies on the board in the third with this two-run shot:

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1299499965509767170?s=20

An inning later, Jean Segura would follow with one of his own:

Zack Wheeler, too, held up his end of the deal by inducing three double-plays to limit trouble through five innings.

Of course, this is the 2020 Phillies, and while it appeared for the first five-plus innings it may be that simple, well, you knew it would not be that simple.

With the Phillies holding a 4-1 lead in the sixth, Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled to lead off the inning. Wheeler responded with back-to-back punch outs of Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman.

The Hard Part

It appeared Wheeler would get out of the inning unscathed on his 92nd pitch of the night.

Marcell Ozuna hit a smash that was snagged by a diving Didi Gregorius, who quickly got to his feet and made an accurate one-hop throw across the diamond to Rhys Hoskins. Somehow, Hoskins misplayed the hop. Acuña scored, and after a six-pitch walk to Travis d’Arnaud, Wheeler’s night was suddenly over after allowing just one earned run.

Adam Morgan would enter and get Nick Markakis to flyout which ended the threat, but there remained at least nine more outs for the embattled Phillies bullpen to take down.

Enter the narrative arc, twists and turns, and all of that other fun shit.

On a night in which the Braves initially had little momentum, they gained some on the Hoskins miscue. They gained some more of it in the bottom of the inning when the Phillies stranded a pair of runners with one out. And by the time Ender Inciarte and Austin Riley led off the seventh with back-to-back homers on just two pitches from Morgan, Atlanta had all of the momentum in what was, suddenly, a 4-4 game.

Then, surprisingly, the bullpen rebounded to give the Phillies a chance. Like I said, though, twists and turns.

The Unexpected Part

Tommy Hunter would put a stop to the bleeding by navigating the seventh without further damage, while Hector Neris dominated in a 1-2-3 eighth inning that required only 13 pitches, nine of which were strikes.

Brandon Workman would get into a two-out jam in the ninth, which, by the way, seems to be his thing here with the Phillies, but he found his way out of it, which also seems to be his thing.

One small problem – the Phillies’ typically potent offense couldn’t generate a base runner, let alone a run, in the seventh eighth, or ninth innings. The Atlanta bullpen mowed through 11 consecutive Phillies hitters to help send the game into extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Heath Hembree would work out of a first-and-third, one-out jam by striking out d’Arnaud and getting Markakis to flyout.

In the bottom half of the inning, Scott Kingery advanced to third following a perfectly executed bunt base-hit by Roman Quinn.

The game was there to be had and Braves reliever Shane Greene was on the ropes, but both McCutchen and Hoskins failed to bring home the winning run.

Hoskins’ at-bat was particularly poor. In a situation calling for an aggressive ball-in-play approach, he worked a deep count, even taking a borderline 2-2 pitch at the knees that could’ve ended the at-bat. It didn’t, but he failed to capitalize on his new life when he bounced to third. The lack of execution in a big spot is frustrating, but things happen. In this case, however, it was the approach leading to the result that was baffling.

Following an intentional walk to Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto ran a full count but grounded out to end the threat.

The Really Unexpected Part

Onto the 11th we marched, when the Braves, too, would waste an opportunity with a runner on third and one out against Blake Parker. Realmuto caught Inciarte attempting to swipe second base on what was a bang-bang play, and Adeiny Hechavarría popped out to end the threat.

It appeared the Phillies would waste another golden scoring opportunity after Neil Walker struckout with Realmuto at third following a Segura sac bunt and Gregorius intentional walk. Enter Scott Kingery, who stepped to the plate with a .121 batting average to face Mark Melancon, who had not surrendered a home run in 10 games this season.

The crescendo:

The homer, which Kingery needed maybe more than any hitter in Major League Baseball right now, was his first since Sept. 10, 2019, ending a span of 130 plate appearances without going deep.

Connect Five?

The Phillies will attempt Saturday (weather permitting) to do something they haven’t done in over two full calendar years – win five consecutive games. They are 0-6 in their last six attempts to win a fifth straight game, most recently failing to do so on Aug. 19 in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox.

The last time the Phillies won five-in-a-row was back on Aug. 5, 2018:

Sixto Was Dealing in Miami

If you want a closer look at the night Sixto Sánchez had, just head over to @PitchingNinja on Twitter. He said it (kiddingly, sort of) in one of this tweets, but it’s basically just a Sixto Sánchez fan account now.

The rookie was dominant in his second career start, tossing seven scoreless innings against the American League East-leading Rays. He struck out 10, walked just a single batter and scattered six hits. He hit at least 100 mph seven times. He hit 99 mph on 10 other occasions.

Is this the right time to mention that J.T. Realmuto remains under contract with the Phillies for just 33 more games after Friday night?

Girardi Discusses Importance of Jackie Robinson Day

It’s not hard to see why those around baseball rave about Joe Girardi’s character and leadership abilities. Those traits have been on full display throughout a difficult and complicated few days across the sport. Girardi, as well as Dave Martinez, Rhys Hoskins, and Josh Harrison, handled yesterday’s joint press conference between the Phillies and Nationals with honesty and nuance.

Today, Girardi was asked about the importance of the league’s Jackie Robinson Day, and from this perspective, he was once again right on point.

He also offered some honest thoughts about how he would like to see the country move forward as it works to rectify racial injustice.

“I think about what my parents did for me, where they gave me every opportunity to succeed and have a better life than they had, and everybody should be afforded that opportunity,” he said. “And what you do with that opportunity is your decision, but that’s what I hope we’re able to do as a country.”

McCutchen Details Emotional Meeting

Andrew McCutchen followed Joe Girardi in a Zoom session prior to Friday’s game that lasted just over 20 minutes. In it, McCutchen discussed the importance of the team’s collective decision not to play on Thursday.

“You know what, it was very moving for us to come together as a unit and be able to reach an agreement on behalf of something we all believed in,” he said. “On top of that, it created opportunity, opened windows, doors, to be able to have extensive talks about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, about what’s next, about just everything that transpired in the last 24-48 hours around sports, and, specifically, baseball.”

McCutchen, who has unquestionably emerged as a leader in the Phillies clubhouse since his arrival last season, discussed the impact of the team’s unified approach.

Like Girardi, he also noted the importance of Jackie Robinson prior to taking the field Friday night and delivering a two-run homer in the third inning.

With the respect to Jackie Robinson and everything that’s transpired within the last months, that’s happened in the nation, I feel like Jackie Robinson Day, this time, feels a little different than times before. Because we’re not only celebrating Jackie Robinson Day as the person he was, breaking the color barrier in ’47, really being the start of the whole civil rights movement, because that was really the first time where there was some integration in this nation. But outside of the things that he did outside the game, he was very active within the civil rights movement. He always stood for what he believed in. To celebrate that as well, because I feel like it’s come full circle, and, ultimately, I feel like that’s what we’re doing right now. So, we’re honoring him, the man he was on the field and off the field, and we’re honoring him in many ways, and I feel that just makes the day that much more special.

After his homer, one of his two hits on the night, McCutchen honored Robinson by tapping the patch on his right arm.

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1299503349012877321?s=20

A Setback for Robertson

There was a growing sense of optimism a little less than two weeks ago that Phillies reliever David Robertson could make his way back to the team by the second week of September.

That optimism was stunted Friday afternoon when Joe Girardi told reporters that Robertson, 35, experienced a setback during his recovery from Tommy John surgery while throwing in Lehigh Valley.

“He’s kind of hit a bump, and we will have more answers as we move forward,” he said.

When Girardi was asked a follow-up question about Robertson possibly not returning this season, he conceded it was a possibility.

“I think anytime you hit a bump with such little time left, I think it’s possible, yeah. I hope that’s not the case, but I think it’s possible.”

My takeaway?

Don’t count on Robertson, who signed a two-year, $23 million contract prior to the 2019 season, making a return this season. If he doesn’t, he will complete his contract having thrown just 6.2 IP with the Phillies.

Suarez Close to Return

The news is far more encouraging for Ranger Suarez, who emerged as a reliable left-handed option out of the Phillies’ bullpen a season ago.

Girardi indicated the team expected to discuss Suarez’ status sometime Friday, meaning it’s possible that he could make his return in the coming days, perhaps as early as Saturday.

Suarez entered spring training back in March as a contender for the team’s final spot in the starting rotation, but he fell out of that competition during his summer camp absence as he battled COVID-19.

Girardi told reporters that he could use Suarez for matchups or for multi-inning stints, but that he will look to pick spots and ease him back into action.